Re: [cobalt-users] RaQ vs Something Else

["Rodolfo J. Paiz" <rpaiz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 4/19/01 01:21 PM -0400, you wrote:
> The best way to go is to create your own box.  That way you get exactly what
> you need.  You can create a PIII-800 system w/ Red Hat Linux 7.0 for under
> $800.

I wouldn't recommend this; please post your component list if you're 
willing. To get $800 you're reducing quality on some components. For 
example, I highly doubt you have hot-swap redundant power supplies in that 
server.

My component list to build a server (your mileage may vary) follows. Some 
components (like motherboards) have multiple options listed:

 $400     4U Rackmount Case with hot-swap, redundant
          300W power supplies

 $160     Abit KT7A-RAID Motherboard
          Iwill KK266-R Motherboard

 $180     AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1.0 GHz (133MHz FSB)
          with cooling heatsink/fan

  $95     256 MB RAM (PC133 SDRAM) from Micron

  $95     3Com 3C980 Server 10/100 Ethernet Adapter

  $60     Matrox Millennium G200 AGP Video Adapter

 $240     Two (2) IBM 40GB EIDE drives for RAID-1

  $50     Kenwood TrueX 52X EIDE CD-ROM

======
$1180

These are all decent mail-order prices, but do not include shipping which 
is likely to raise the actual cost to around $1,250. Monitor, keyboard, and 
mouse are not included. However, if you want to do the costing 
appropriately we should note that good 4-port KVM switches cost about $400, 
meaning at least $100 more should be factored into the cost per server. 
Total cost: $1,350.

Please note that I am *not* saying you can't build servers for under $800. 
I'm just saying I don't recommend it. Especially if you want to waste money 
paying extra for Intel over AMD. (Only time I'd buy Intel right now is to 
build a 2U, dual-CPU server with video and Ethernet on the motherboard...)


--
Rodolfo J. Paiz
rpaiz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx